The return of Emelianenko, Yan’s campaign behind the belt and three title fights in the UFC: the most anticipated events of December in MMA

Fedor Emelianenko - Quinton Rampage Jackson

Tournament: Bellator 237

Date and place: December 28, Saitama (Japan).

A few days before the New Year in Japan will be one of the main events of not only December, but also the year in MMA. In the homeland of the famous PRIDE promotion in the past, a clash of two legends of mixed martial arts will take place - Fedor Emelianenko and Quinton Jackson. Apparently, for the Russian, she will be one of the last in her career, as the athlete himself has repeatedly said.

Both fighters will enter the cage after prolonged downtime. So, the last time Emelianenko fought at the Bellator 214 tournament in January. In the heavyweight Grand Prix finals, he suffered a crushing defeat from Ryan Bader and missed a chance to win the champion title. Fedor was knocked out just 35 seconds after the start of the battle, which forced many to put an end to the career of the famous fighter.

Apparently, such thoughts crept into the head of the Last Emperor himself. For several months he did not give any comments on future performances, but in the end he signed a new contract with the American promotion.

Nevertheless, despite the fact that many consider this stage of Emelianenko’s career a “farewell tour”, the level of the opponent indicates the opposite. Of course, lately, Rampage has performed not only not regularly, but also not very successfully. So, in three years, he only prevailed once. In September 2018, the American knocked out another veteran of Wanderlei Silva, but before that, he had lost to the judges Chail Sonnen and Muhammad Laval. However, Jackson is still a very dangerous opponent, able to send almost anyone to the floor.

During his career, Quinton has prevailed over a number of stellar counterparts, including Dan Henderson, Kevin Randleman, Chuck Lidell and Lyoto Machida. In terms of experience, he surpasses all the last opponents of Fedor, and certainly above the class of the athlete with whom he fought for the last time in Japan. So, on December 31, 2016 Emelianenko knocked out kickboxer Jaidip Singh, who had an active track record of two victories.

Kamaru Usman - Colby Covington

UFC Welterweight Title Fight

Tournament: UFC 245

Date and Place: December 14th, Las Vegas (USA)

UFC management has made every effort to put an effective end to 2019 by organizing a tournament in December with three title fights. At the same time, the main and most expected of them will be held in welterweight, where Kamaru Usman will fight with Colby Covington.

In the Absolute Fighting Championship, they often take an example from wrestling and rely on confrontations with a rich history of relationships and a number of high-profile conflicts. The battle of Usman and Covington is one of them. For several months, the athletes fought among themselves in the media space, and Colby completely became one of the most hated fighters in the world. He interfered with the training, insulted colleagues during the broadcasts, and also repeatedly rudely spoke to President Dana White. So, once he said that he would hit the functionary if he tried to fasten his champion belt on his waist during the December show.

However, this battle is also interesting in terms of style, because two practically identical athletes will converge in the octagon. Usman and Covington are pronounced wrestlers who are practically unaware of fatigue. The Nigerian showed this excellently in the fight with Tyrone Woodley, and the American in a duel with Robbie Lawler. However, both have large gaps in the striking technique, so the main bet will be made on grappling. Physical power gives Kamaru a slight advantage, but Colby will be able to fully compensate for this with technology.

Max Holloway - Alexander Wolkanovsky

UFC Featherweight Title Fight

Tournament: UFC 245

Date and Place: December 14th, Las Vegas (USA)

This fight is worthy of attention for several reasons. Firstly, the audience will enjoy a fascinating confrontation with the participation of one of the best drummers in the history of MMA. Holloway regularly shows beautiful and dynamic fights, and a duel with Volkanovsky is unlikely to be an exception. Secondly, the future rival Zabita Magomedsharipova may well be determined in it. At the moment, the Russian takes fourth place in the featherweight rating and most of all deserves the chance to compete for the honorary title.

Holloway has the longest series of victories in the history of the category, which has 14 battles. It is worth noting that only two fighters were so confident in their divisions. John Jones won 16 straight matches in light heavyweight, and Georges Saint-Pierre - in 15, but welterweight.

However, the fourth title defense promises to be not the easiest for Max. Alexander raced a featherweight hurricane and got the upper hand seven times in a row, twice over top fighters in the person of Jose Aldo and Ched Mendes. Aussie is good both in the stance and in the stalls, but is still considered an outsider. So, he is significantly inferior to his counterpart not only in kickboxing skills, but also in height (167 cm - 180 cm). And Holloway repeatedly proved how skillfully he uses this difference.

Amanda Nunez - Germaine de Randamy

UFC bantamweight title fight

Tournament: UFC 245

Date and Place: December 14th, Las Vegas (USA)

Against the background of two other champion fights, this one is slightly inferior in terms of excitement. The reason is that the main battle in the history of female MMA has already taken place and in the near future, fans are unlikely to expect anything as exciting. Amanda Nunez easily figured out Chris Sayborg and can safely be considered one of the greatest female fighters in history. De Randamy is significantly inferior to Justino in all respects, therefore, it can hardly be considered a worthy opponent for the current owner of the belt.

The athletes had already met among themselves in 2013 and then Nunez won a landslide victory. Already in the first round she was in full mount (a position in the fight in which a fighter controls both legs of the opponent) and began to beat the opponent with elbows. Referee Herb Dean watched for a long time failed attempts to defend in the performance of the Dutch, but eventually intervened.

Since then, Nunez has done a great job on herself and has become noticeably stronger. Of course, de Randamy was also not idle, but her success seems much less impressive. So, the Brazilian got the better of Saiborg, Valentina Shevchenko, Misha Tate, Holly Holm, completed the career of the legendary Ronda Rosie and became the first ever UFC champion in two divisions. The Dutchwoman, though, won the semi-lightweight belt, but that fight was remembered by an extremely controversial referee's decision. In addition, immediately after its completion, she announced her intention to go to surgery and was stripped of her rank.

Peter Jan - Juraia Faber

Tournament: UFC 245

Date and Place: December 14th, Las Vegas (USA)

Like Magomedsharipov, Yang is at arm's length from the duel for the belt. He won five times in a row and each success can bring him a meeting with Henry Sehudo. In order to secure the title of the first applicant, he needs to deal with an opponent of the top class. In this sense, the legendary Faber is an ideal candidate.

Yuraya is considered to be one of the lightest weight symbols. During his career, he spent 45 fights, won 35 victories and three times claimed the belt of the UFC champion. True, every time he failed. Twice he lost to Dominic Cruz, and once again was beaten by Henan Barao.

In 2016, Faber announced his retirement, but returned three years later and left no chance for Ricky Simon. The 40-year-old veteran took only 46 seconds to knock out his counterpart. The victory over him will be for Jan the most important in his career at the moment and will prove that he is able to fight on equal terms with the strongest representatives of the category.

It’s especially interesting if Peter will be able to avoid transfers to the stalls and how will Juraje resist in the fight. In this aspect, the American is a real specialist, for many years training others in his own Team Alpha Male hall.

Said Nurmagomedov - Raoni Barcelos

Tournament: UFC Fight Night 165

Date and place: December 21, Busan (South Korea)

It is possible that in the top 15 UFC bantamweight another Russian will soon appear. This can happen if Said Nurmagomedov will prevail over Raoni Barcelos and extend the winning streak in the championship to three fights. True, this will not be so simple, because the Brazilian not only never lost in the largest MMA promotion of the planet, but also won exclusively ahead of schedule.

It is worth noting that Said is not a relative of Khabib, which only emphasizes his fighting style. He relies on percussion technique and is more likely to resemble Magomedsharipov than a star namesake. The athlete works well with his hands, but the main emphasis is on various kicks. So, in his arsenal are all sorts of variations of high-kicks and spinning kicks that the audience likes so much. At the same time, Nurmagomedov does this not only spectacularly, but also effectively. It was the kick from the turn into the body that helped him knock out Ricardo Ramos in the last match.